It's no exaggeration to say the Lowe's in South Tampa is constantly receiving, rearranging, or stocking disaster supplies ahead of Isaac.

Other retailers are also in overdrive. Water was unloaded from a truck and onto the shelves of a St. Petersburg Publix starting at 4:30 a.m. Friday.

Lessons learned from previous storms -- including Florida's nightmare season of 2004 with Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne -- have been refined for nearly a decade, explained Matt White, who manages the South Tampa Lowe's.

Lakeland-based Publix Supermarkets also manages its supplies to keep shelves stocked. The manager of a St. Pete location told us he gets twice-daily briefings on the storm and how the grocery chain is responding.

The federal government is also improving. 10 News crews saw first-hand how the demand for help overwhelmed FEMA planners and field workers for several days after Hurricane Katrina, putting lives at risk.

Thursday, FEMA stocked 18-wheeler trucks with taxpayer-funded disaster supplies at a warehouse in Atlanta. On Friday, the agency planned to drive the trucks to a staging area in Jacksonville.

But, as the area that's anticipating Isaac's arrival shifts westward, those staged supplies may relocate as well, showing a trait often too rare in the the federal government's bureaucracy: flexibility.

What should be in your disaster kit?

Pick up our 10 News Hurricane Handbook at your local Walgreens in the Tampa Bay area for great checklists, evacuation zones, and more information.